Skirt-supporter.



No. 669,385. Patented Mar. 5, |90L E. A. ESTABROOK.

SKIRT SUPPO'BTER.

(Application filed may 12, 1900.)

(N0 Model.)

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UNITED STATES ATENT SKlRT-SUPPORTER.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 669,385, dated March 5, 1901.

Application filed May 12, 1900. Serial No- 16,535. (No model.)

To aZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, ESTHER A. ESTABROOK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Scranton, in the county of Lackawanna and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Skirt-Supporters, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to devices employed for supporting and attaching the skirts of ladies dresses to the waistband of what are usually known as shirt-waists; and the object of my invention is to provide a simpler, a less expensive, a more efficient, and more easily manipulated device of the kind than those now in use and also to provide a device of the kind which is easily separable and attachable to any garment, and other objects that will appear in the specification and claim.

To this end my invention consists of the construction, arrangement, and combination of the several parts herein d'escribed,and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and in which Figure 1 is a view in perspective of the main portion of my device. Fig. 2 is a similar View of a plate forming another member of my device and adapted to engage with it when in use. Fig. 3 is a view in perspective of one of the smaller plates, two of which are adapted to be used as a part of my device. Fig. 4 is a rear view showing the several parts of my device as they appear when used in connection with each other at the junction of a skirt and waistband. Fig. 5 is a cross-section taken on the line m a: of Figs. 4 and 6, showing the relation of the several parts when a belt is used in connection with them. Fig. 6 is a general view of the device in use in connection with a belt. Fig. 7 shows a modification of the construction of one of the hooks of my device; and Fig. 8 shows a cross-section of a portion of said hook, taken on the liney y.

Similar characters of reference denote like and corresponding parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings, 1 and 2 designate metallic hooks integrally made with and projecting from a plate 3, which is oppositely curved from said hooks and adapted to clasp the belt usually worn about the waist, the plate 3 being adapted to be ornamented according to the taste and being the only portion of the device which is visible on the wearer.

at designates a bar or plate which is secured to the waistband 13 of the bodice or shirtwaist on each of the garments intended to be used in connection with my device. It is provided with lugs 5 5 at its ends, by means of which it may be secured by sewing to the waistband aforesaid. it is also provided with a supplementary lug 6 in the middle, the said lug occupying a position between the books 1 and 2 when the device is in position and also sewed to the waistband 13. The stretches 7 and 8 of the bar are sufficiently humped outward to permit of the bodily insertion of the hooks l and 2 between the fabric of the waistband and the plate in adjusting the device.

9 designates a smaller plate similar in character to 4:, having lugs 1O 10, by which it is adapted to be sewed to the skirt-band 14, one of said plates being intended to be sewed on each half of the placket, so that when they are engaged with the hooks 1 and 2, respectively, they will serve to hold the placket closed and the band sufficiently tight about the waist. The belt 12 is adapted to pass over the hooks and under the plate or ornamented portion 3, as shown in Fig. 6.

In order that my device may be constructed of thinner material, the hooks may be provided with an embossment 11, as shown in Figs. 7 and 8. These embossments will not only stiffen the hooks, so that they will stand a greater weight, but they also will assist in preventing them from twisting on account or" the lateral strain consequent upon holding the skirt-band together.

The operation of the device is readily explained. The bar 4 is sewed onto the waistband of the bodice or shirt-waist in the middle of the back of each garment on which the device is to be used and is not readily separable from them. A small bar 9 is also sewed on each side of the placket of the skirt, so that when they are drawn to a distance apart corresponding to that of the hooks 1 and 2 the skirt-band is at its proper adjustment. Now the main portion of my device (shown in Fig. 1) is taken between the thumb and finger-and inserted hooks downward between the fabric of the waistband and the plate, so that the books 1 and 2 occupy the places designated 8 and '7, respectively, and the plate 4, as a whole, occupying the position as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 4. In this position the device is ready to have attached to it the skirt, which is done by hooking one portion of the placket onto one of the hooks, say 2. Then the other side of the skirt-band having the other plate 9 is drawn up into position, lapping over sufficiently to allow the plate 9 to behooked similarly onto the hook 1. The belt 12 is then inserted under the plate 3, covering the smaller plates 9 9 and the hooks 1 and 2, the plate 3 serving to prevent the belt from slipping upward.

I do not wish to be confined to the exact construction shown in the drawings, as many of them may be varied Without departing from the general spirit of my invention; but I specially note that my device is constructed so as to support a skirt to a waistband or bodice, and at the same time by the same identical parts it serves the purpose of a 010- sure of the placket of the skirt in a very simple manner. I

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

As a new article of manufacture, a skirtsupporter comprising a removable member adapted to hook over a belt and also to hook through a plate on the waistband of a shirt Waist, the said removable member having a pair of rigid flat hooks extending downward, adapted to engage with plates on the separate ends of the band of a skirt or skirt-placket, for the purpose of uniting the waist and the skirt aforesaid, and at the same time closing the placket aforesaid, together with a plate adapted to be secured to a waistband and being fastened thereto at each end and also in the middle, the middle fastening lying between the two downward-extending hooks in the operation of the device, and two separate plates secured to the ends of the skirt-band aforesaid and adapted to engage with the flat and rigid hooks aforesaid, substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ESTHER A. ESTABROOK.

Witnesses:

E. H. ESTABROOK, GEO. GELATT. 

